Thursday, May 26, 2016

WIP: Choice - A Screenplay - Please Ignore The Terrible Formatting

We SEE an UNNAMED COLLEGE FRESHMAN in her early 20s,
wakes up from an annoyingly loud alarm and then turns around, presumably to head
back to sleep. She’s been up for the last couple of hours and it’s evident. Her
hair is a tangled, black mess and her glasses are on an awkward position on her
face. She turns back over and sees the time once more. She’s running late.

GIRL

Shit!

MUSIC PLAYING: NEVER A WOMAN – WHITE SEA

Director’s Note:Music to be played quietly, enough
where you can hear it, but enough to hear the outdoorsy sounds as well.

She hops out of bed and presumably starts to get
ready. She grabs her tooth brush from a rack above the sink and accidentally drops
it on the ground. She shrugs, picks it up, washes it off and uses it because
she’s in a hurry. She’s wearing colorful striped pajama pants and she as shuffles
across the floor to get in the shower, she shakes her pants off and runs into the
bathroom. The door closes and we see her pants still on the floor.

MUSIC STOPS.

CUT TO:

INT. COLLEGE DORM ROOM -MORNING

We see ANOTHER COLLEGE FRESHMAN in his early 20s, comes
out of the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. He’s still wearing plaid
pajama pants and a t-shirt from a very obscure band and at the moment, he’s
very tired.

MUSIC PLAYING: EVERYBODY MOVES – ROCKWIZ

He goes to open the curtains and lets the sun beam
in and it hurts his eyes. He’s always wanted to have this nostalgic,
made-for-movie moment where he opens the curtains and he actually appreciates
the sunlight and the morning. This is not one of those moments.

BOY

Fuck this. He slams the curtains closed, jumps back into bed
and promptly throws the cover over his head. His alarm goes off and he pops
from under the covers and slams his hand down the receiver, shutting it off. He
signs and angrily wiggles around in his bed, like an uncooperative child. He is
not ready to face the day because he knows what’s coming. It’s Advisement Day.

MUSIC STOPS.

CUT TO:

INT/EXT OPENING CREDITS SEQUENCE:

Split screen of BOY and GIRL, walking on the same
path (BEHIND STUDENT CENTER), disconnected from the world because of the two
different lives they lead. Yet they’re headed to the same place and they live
on same college campus.

Ex:

On the left:GIRL walks on path, in a hurry as she’s running
late. She bumps into someone and staggers apologetically before rushing off as
she was before. She’s pushing past people and whatnot because she’s a busy girl
and has things to do. She runs of stairs to a building and then rushes to an
office door where she throws things around her purse to find her keys, she
drops them because of the hurry she’s in, picks them up and then goes inside.

On the right: Boy walks on same path. He’s awkward and
walks slower with not much direction. He turns around a lot to notice
everything. The same pair of feet belonging to the GIRL rush past him and he
stops to look, but he doesn’t catch her face. He quietly pushes past the crowd,
awkwardly. He continues to walk to the same path and walks the same path,
eventually ending up at the same building as the GIRL.

FADE OUT:

BEGIN TITLE SCREEN.

As the title rolls in, a NARRATOR’s disgruntled
voice begins to speak.

NARRATOR

(O.S female preferably)

Before we begin, this is not a love story.

INT ENGINEERING BUILDING – DAY

The BOY is walking down the path towards the
ADVISEMENT OFFICE. He pushes past people awkwardly and you hear him whispering
a casual “Hello” to some people around him as to not be rude.

He makes it to the door and inhales a huge breath
before stepping inside.

GIRL

Hello, welcome to
Engineering Advisement. How can I help you?He stops mid-room, taking a look at the girl behind
the desk. There is a CLOSE UP on this GAZE.

This is the girl of his dreams. He’s looking at her
like every girl has wanted to be looked at and she doesn’t even notice.

We then SEE the GIRL at her desk as the BOY looks
on. She’s cheery, bubbly because as a receptionist, it’s her job to be this
way, but mainly because she’s bored.

NARRATORThis is a story about boy meets girl, but love…does not follow.BOY(V.O)Pretty
girl alert. Don’t fuck this up, dude. Cool, casual and calm. That’s who you are.GIRL

Hello?
Can I help you?

She’s growing even more annoyed at the fact he’s not
responding as right now, it’s kind of off-putting.

BOY(V.O)Cool.He’s so in his head, he’s ignoring the fact that the
GIRL is speaking to him.GIRLHello?BOY(V.O)Calm.He’s still not responding, so it’s not crossing her
head that this guy may be off his rocker.GIRLAre
you okay?BOY(V.O)Shit.And it’s only now that he’s realized he’s fucked up.

BOYYeah, sorry about that. I
blanked for a minute. You’re just very,
very pretty, but I had an appointment to
see Ms. Arnold.He quickly makes his way over to the desk and
promptly signs his name on the yellow sheets of paper on a clip board in front
of him on the desk. (Director’s note: Do not get his name into shot) The GIRL
notices he’s called her pretty, but doesn’t say anything about it. She’s
smirking slightly.GIRLCan
I have your name, please?He turns the sign in sheet around and taps his name
on the sheet. The GIRL laughs and flips the sheet back around to its original
position. She’s embarrassed because asking questions like this has become so
routine, she forgets to actually think about what she’s saying before she says
it.

GIRLOkay, smart ass. You’re half
an hourearly for your appointment,
so she will be with you once she
finishes prepping your file. Have a seat until
then and Ipromise. I don’t bite.

And the flirting commences.

BOYA seat? Right here? On this
floor? I don’t think my pants would
like that.I’ll take the biteinstead.The GIRL laughs once more as the BOY hold out his
hand out. Although his humor is dry and he’s very nervous, he wants to impress
this pretty stranger.

BOY

Seriously, when’s the last
time you guys cleaned this carpet?

And again, they both laugh.

MUSIC PLAYING: SWEET DISPOSITION

CUT TO:

Shots of the BOY and GIRL separately talking. You
hear snip-it’s of laughing and other dialogue as the music plays. Ex: “Oh,
really?” “I don’t know about that.” “You like them? You like Red Wood?
Seriously? You’re kidding me, right?”

MUSIC STOPS.

MS. ARNOLD

(O.S)

Is my 9:00 there yet?

They both stop talking and smiling after hearing the
voice as they know what’s going to happen next as he is the next appointment.

GIRL

(reluctantly)

Yes, Ms. Arnold. I’ll send
him back.

The GIRL motions towards the pathway leading to
MS.ARNOLD’s office and laughs once more. She is distraught that this
conversation has to come to an end. The BOY walks past her into the office and
shuts the door behind him. As soon as she hears the door clicks, she dives into
her bag and starts reapplying her makeup, lipstick, and all. She tosses her
hair around and brushes it furiously.

CUT TO:

INT. MS. ARNOLD’S OFFICE

TheBOY, after closing the door, sits down and
stares at MS. ARNOLD (early 30’s), prim and preppy with a serious look on her
face and her hands folded on her desk over the C file because she knows the
news. She’s delivered it many times and while this is supposed to be just
another reading of the same few lines, she’s decided to cut the bull this time.

MS. ARNOLD

So, you know what I’m going
to say to you, right?

The BOY nods and folds his hands anxiously in his
lap and looks down because he knows what’ coming.

CUT TO:

MUSIC PLAYING: PEOPLE AND SO ON – FRISKA VILJOR

The GIRL is outside, anxious and trying to find
something to do. She’s flipping through magazines, typing the words: FUCK,
FUCK, FUCK, FUCK…over and over again on the computer screen, she’s checking her
reflection nervously waiting for her new acquaintance to come back out.

MUSIC STOPS.

He finally walks back out with his head down,
somberly and walks straight past the desk quickly. He then turns around swiftly
as if he’s forgotten something in the middle of the room and then goes back to
the desk and slams his hand on it roughly.

BOY

Would you like to go out
with me sometime?

She’s a little bit thrown off since she thought that
he was just going to walk out without speaking to her again.

GIRL

I thought you’d never ask.

She tears up a sheet of paper and scribbles down her
number and slides it over the table the BOY and he starts inputting the number
into his phone.

BOYI used to think my phone was
a piece of shitand now it’s suddenly my
most valuablepossession.

They both laugh.

GIRL

Now go, go on now. I’ve got
very important work to do.

They both know this is a lie. She starts ushering
him out the door with her hands and as soon as the BOY is out in the hallway,
he starts dancing awkwardly. The people around look at him and he stops,
composes himself and moves on.

CUT TO:

INT – GIRL’S DORM – NIGHT

The GIRL sits on her bed in her pajamas from the
morning. She’s been lying around waiting for the boy to text her. She has her
feet propped up on the wall, with her arms up, looking up at her phone. Across
from her is her roommate, SARAH, early 20’s and chill. They’re best friends and
have been since middle school. However, they are polar opposites. SARAH is calm
and relaxed in just about every situation while the GIRL is bubbly and hyper.

SARAH

(O.S)

He’ll call or text you
later. Calm down, seriously.

GIRLNo, no, you don’t understand.
He called me pretty. This is serious. Guys just don’t usually come upand say that to me, so him not texting me immediately
is not a good sign.

SARAH

Maybe he’s dead.

She is obviously joking, but she’s kind of annoyed
at how high strung her friend is being.

GIRL

Not funny.

There’s a silence.

GIRLOkay, what if he did die and
now the onlyguy I find to tolerate me
suddenly dies.This. Sucks.

SARAH

I was kidding.

SARAH gets up and walks over to the GIRL’s bed where
she snatches the phone from her hand. She’s had enough. However, as soon as she
grabs the phone from her friend’s hand, she screams and moans and starts
fighting for her phone. This is only lifetime to this mysterious and also
adorable young man. They struggle for a while and after a while, they sit and
laugh over how silly they were being.

SARAH

Are you done stressing over
a boy?

GIRL

Are you done touching my
valuables?

They laugh again and then the phone vibrates. It’s
him.GIRL

It’s him!

The GIRL jumps up screeching with joy. She looks at
the phone and quickly responds back, ignoring her roommate, still on the floor
from their previous battle.

SARAH

So, what did he say?

GIRL

He texted saying, ‘Hi.’

SARAH

Hi?

GIRL

Yep. H.I. That’s is. Oh,
he’s texting again.

The two are silent once more and SARAH stands up
again and grabs the phone to examine the text. The GIRL shrugs and lets her
friend take the phone without argument.

SARAH

He says, ‘Do you want to get
dinner?’

The GIRL is still thinking about what to say next
when we HEAR another PING echo from her phone.

SARAHHe’s
still going. He says, ‘Let me rephrase that:I’m going to come and get you in 10 minutes,but in order for that to happen, I need your
address, so now you have
no other choice than to give me your address, so that we can go eat.Now, you the GIRL starts
smiling. She’s not only happy about the fact that he’s finally contacted her,
but she’s happy that he’s so sweet. Even the way he texts is sweet.

SARAH

So, what do I say?

GIRL

You know the address. Give
it to the man.

SARAHAre you going to wear that?

She looks down at her pajama pants and then starts
freaking out. She beings pacing the dorm room, thinking about what to wear. How
the fuck was she going to impress him? She then runs over the closet door and
throws it open.

MUSIC PLAYING: BORN AGAIN TEEN – LUCIUS

The GIRL starts throwing clothing around the room.

MONTAGE:

-She
begins trying on outfit after outfit and in between each outfit, you hear a
distinct “No” from either her or her roommate.

And after, she finally sits on ground in defeat as
song fades into background as she doesn’t know what to wear. She has a decent
outfit on, but it’s not the one, so
she sighs in her jeans and t-shirt.

SARAH

(O.S)

What are you doing on the
floor?

GIRL

I still don’t know what to
wear

SARAH

(O.S)Just wear something. It’s
almost timefor you to leave.

TheGIRLlooks at her phone to see 2 missed calls
and texts asking, ‘WHERE ARE YOU? I’M OUTSIDE. YOU READY?’

GIRL

Shit!

MUSIC PLAYING: CAGE THE ELEPHANT – MESS AROUND

She scrambles around to try and throws something on
and runs out the room. She tries to get her keys to lock the door, but her
roommate pokes her head out the door and starts ushering her down the hall.

SARAH

Just go!

The GIRL runs to the elevator and presses the button
frantically and hops on the elevator.

She paces around the elevator nervously as she’s the
only one in it. She’s pushing on the walls and it feels as if this elevator is
taking forever.

The door opens and more people begin to pour in, but
she stands still. She’s frozen in fear, but no one is paying any attention to
her.

CUT TO:

INT OUTSIDE DORM – IN CAR – NIGHT

The BOY is seen, sitting in his car. He’s tapping
his knees and fiddling with the radio. He doesn’t know what to do. He doesn’t
know when the GIRL is going to show up…

Or if she will…

But he sits in the car and waits patiently. He looks
out the window and sees her exiting the dorm.

CUT TO:

EXT. OUTSIDE DORM – NIGHT

The GIRL is walking toward the car, still very
nervous, but she smiles as she soon as she sees the BOY in the front seat of
the car.

MUSIC STOPS.

The camera is still frozen on the GIRL. A shot of
the BOY’s face then comes up beside hers.

FADE OUT.

MUSIC PLAYING: HERO – REGINA SPECKTOR

NARRATOR

Remember what I said about
this not being a love story?

That
still stands. This isn’t about her.

FADE IN:

The same picture of the GIRL comes up on the screen.

NARRATOR

Or him.

The same picture of the BOY comes up on the screen
as well.

NARRATORIt’s much bigger than them.

CUT TO:

INT. ENGINEERING ADVISEMENT OFFICE – DAY

We see the BOY and GIRL speaking. It is silent and
nothing can be heard, but the music. He goes into the MS. ARNOLD’S OFFICE.

NARRATORWhat would have become of
these strangeif they’d done anything
differently throughout the day?

CUT TO:

We see the GIRL sitting propped up at the desk once
more after she’s reapplied her makeup and done her hair. The BOY rushes out of
the room and down the hall and the GIRL looks at the door with a blank stare.
He’s gone.

FADE OUT.

FADE IN:

INT. BOY’S DORM – NIGHT

NARRATORThere are certain situations
you go through during the course of a day that
make you wishyou’d done something
differently.

WeSEE him lying down in his bed, staring at the
ceiling.

FADE IN:

INT. GIRL’S DORM ROOM – MORNING

NARRATOR

How one small thing could change
your path andlead you astray from your happy ending.

We see the GIRL in bed. The curtains are drawn and
the alarm goes off. She slams her hand on it and turns over in bed, throwing
the covers over her head as she heads back to sleep.

FADE OUT.

FADE IN:

INT. ADVISEMENT OFFICE – MORNING

We see the BOY enter the room and stop in the middle
of the room. The GIRL is not behind the desk. Her chair is empty.

MS. ARNOLD

(O.S)

Come on back. I can see youif you’re my 9:00. My assistant didn't show up.

He somberly walks past the desk into her OFFICE.

FADE OUT.

FADE IN:

INT. UNKNOWN BUILDING – RED WOOD CONCERT - NIGHT

NARRATOR

However, there are mistakes
that can be fixedwith the passing of time and
a little bit ofchanges here and there. But
who knows where thosechanges will lead you? No
one knows. You can onlyguess.We see the BOY standing and listening to the band.
His head is bobbing up and down. He’s totally into it and you can see this
isn’t the first time he’s been to hear this band. You can’t hear the band
playing. You can only hear the music playing, but there are a couple other
people around, talking and whatnot, but everyone’s attention is on the band as
they’re mesmerized by whatever music is playing.Then we see the GIRL come up next to him and stand
to watch the concert as well. He looks at her and she smiles apologetically for
entering his personal space.

But he doesn’t care because she’s so beautiful.

BOY

You’re pretty. I wanted to
know if --

GIRL

(cutting him off)

Thanks.

The GIRL shakes off this compliment her head and
looks off into the distance, ignoring the BOY. He nods his head and he looks
off as well. He’s lost his chance.

FADE OUT.

This is my pride and joy. My first somewhat finished screenplay and so, what this is about is fate. Fate in accordance to relationships and the moments in life where we maybe should've taken a chance and the times where we should've stayed silent. It's all up in the air because we never know how things are going to turn out and we never know the truth behind whatever is going on in the moments where a decision has to be made. Is this the right choice? Should I go for it? Is this going to turn out well? It's all up to you to decide.

Photo Credit: Me I had a panic attack about twenty minutes ago and it felt like I was going to die. My chest contracted, my heart ...

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